A Little Christmas Spirit
by APizzaInTime
Summary: Sally encounters Jack working on some Christmas decorations in the middle of the night, and after hanging up some mistletoe, a little magic sweeps over them both. Oneshot. Fluff.


Hi, everyone! This is my first submission into the Nightmare Before Christmas fandom! I always tell my friends that I become a slave to Nightmare Before Christmas from October 1st to November 1st. I get really passionate about my Jack and Sally... I love them so much.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! I haven't seen enoughcheezy mistletoe fics around, so its important that I made one. Haha

* * *

It had been a long night for Sally.

Another cold chill had sent a shiver down her stitches as she sat against a brick wall near the town hall – she knew that this wasn't a good place to sleep. But seeing as she could never go back to the Doctor, it would have to do until she found another place to stay. And even though she had no materials to sew any kind of warmer clothing, and it was already well into the wee hours of the morning, Sally wrapped her arms around herself and settled her head against the hard brick wall, hoping that she'd be able to drift off for at least a few hours until the sun rose again.

But then, a large clatter of something hit the ground, causing Sally's eyes to shoot open once more. What _was_ that? It sounded like something coming from the town hall, and she knew that all the Christmas preparations had stopped for the night… She was too curious, and honestly too wary for her own good. What if those three scheming trick-or-treaters came back, hauling Sandy Claws in the night? She would have to make sure Jack knew as soon as possible so that Lock, Shock, and Barrel wouldn't cause any mischief.

With that thought in mind, she shook off her chills and stood, straightening her dress before creeping towards the town hall.

Sally's shiny red locks swished to hang over her shoulder as she peered into the town hall, having noticed that the lights, albeit dim, had been turned on. The room was completely devoid of any citizen of Halloween Town, but filled to the brim with decorations of Jack's ever-approaching Christmas. Tinsel and garland had been thrown this way and that, having exploded from a red and yellow chest in the corner of the stage. The Christmas tree was trim with colored lights and shiny ornaments, complete with star at its pointed top. Sally wondered who had left it like this. Perhaps the Mayor had forgotten to turn out the lights before leaving this evening? But she liked to think that the Mayor was always rather methodical about those kinds of things…

She took a few cautious steps into the town hall area, looking back and forth to see if she could find anything out of the ordinary. There had to be something – she knew she had heard the loud noise – so something or someone must be here, right? She scanned row after row of the seats in the room, hoping to find what she was looking for upon reaching the stage, but she did not. No one was here. Perhaps it had been something that she had just…dreamt? Her eyelids drooped at that thought. And after it, the thought of how nice the wooden benches looked for staying out of the cold winds that had been plaguing her all night…maybe she could just…sleep here for a moment…

"…Sally?"

The ragdoll could feel her stitches loosen as she jumped, having been jolted by the voice calling her name. She steadied herself before taking a step back, looking up to see none other than the Pumpkin King himself pushing back the red curtain and holding something on the end of a long and slender string.

"Oh! Jack!" She stepped back again, a bit surprised. The heat was rushing to her face quicker than she could form words – she needed to say something before he got the wrong idea…! "I didn't know you were here…!"

Jack chuckled, pushing his way out of the curtain and out onto center stage to greet her. "I suppose a Pumpkin King's – or I guess, in this case, a Sandy Claws' - work is never done, eh?" he held up the long string, his shoulders shrugged over a little bit. "I came to do a little work without being bothered."

She let out an airy chuckle to compliment his, pushing a lock of hair delicately behind her ear. Her fingertips lost a little feeling in them as all the warmth filled her cheeks – sure, it was cold outside, but she was more than burning up in here.

Sally almost was too wrapped up in herself to notice Jack stepping down from the stage, carrying his thin string with him as he drew closer to her.

"What are you doing here tonight, Sally? You should be home – it's cold out, you know." He asked curiously, his eye sockets seeming to peer right into her soul. She could feel herself begin to stammer before she could even perceive what she was doing.

"W-well…I was just passing by, and I heard a noise, so I thought I would investigate." She half-lied, twisting her hands in themselves. Jack watched her closely, his skull slightly cocking to the side before he broke out in a reassuring smile.

"Oh, heh, I must have dropped something." He admitted, his tall, slender form bending inward slightly. He seemed a tad embarrassed at having attracted her attention. "Nothing to worry about – just a slight case of butterfingers, I'm afraid…"

She trailed off a nervous "hmm" before an awkward silence erupted between them, filling the room with a kind of tension that made the ragdoll want to fall to pieces on the floor. She was alone with Jack Skellington. The Pumpkin King. This was something she'd only dreamed about on the loveliest of nights, and here she was, unable to make out any kind of complete sentence.

She was taken from her thoughts by a sharp clearing of Jack's throat.

"Well, Sally, would you like to see what I'm working on? It's been awfully quiet these past few hours, and I'd love your company." He gestured to her, extending a hand in her direction as he turned back toward the stage.

Love. He would love her company. It took everything she had to not lose everything right there. There was something about the way that he said that that made her stitches tighten closer, almost as if she were going to burst. She could feel the bright purple color spread across her blue pallor, and took his hand, his long strides whisking them both to the stage.

Jack took the string he'd been holding and tied it to one of the panels on the ceiling, his arms stretching to almost full length to reach them. She noticed a small plant dangling from the end – a few festive holly berries and leaves made up the majority of the piece. The thing was simple enough, but still reminded her of some holiday wreaths that Jack had shown to everyone at the town meeting and since begun hanging everywhere across town.

Upon redirecting her attention, she noticed that he had opened a book resting on the podium next to him, scanning it over with squinted eye sockets as he flipped through page after page. Finally, his eyes widened, and he looked up at the small plant he'd hung with an excited grin stretched triumphantly across his face.

"Well!" he announced, rather pleased with himself. "What do you think, Sally? A spitting image of the picture, isn't it?"

He held the book out for her to see. She took it into her hands, carefully holding down the withered page with her thumb. The name read "mistletoe" in large, curly letters, and Jack's notes scribbled on each side. A diagram of the plant took up a good portion of the page, highlighting how it should look and be hung from a ceiling. She smiled a bit – it did seem that Jack's mistletoe looked identical to the diagram. But there was another paragraph, citing its proper uses and techniques, in which two elves were…k-ki-…

She could feel her cheeks flush violet in under an instant.

"It looks wonderful, Jack." She replied as loudly as she could, which was a little bit louder than the average dry-throated squeak. THAT…was mistletoe's proper application? During Christmas? She couldn't believe it! What made people want to do… _that_ underneath some kind of plant?

Jack laughed. "Splendid! It was a bit harder to keep it tied to the string than you think." He softly nudged the plant so it swung slowly in the air. "I'm simply brimming with the Christmas spirit just thinking about it! I can't wait to give it a try!"

Give it a…

"Oop! Careful now, Sally – these books are old! And I'll need them a lot more for all the rest of the Christmas decorations we'll need!" Jack explained excitedly, almost as if her dropping the book in shock didn't matter to him at all. The Pumpkin King placed the book back on the podium before rubbing his bony hands together and stepping forward underneath the mistletoe, grinning all the while.

"Care to join me?" he asked innocently, and she couldn't help but bite her bottom lip, looking away from him but stepping forward nonetheless. Just then, her foot caught and a few of the stitches holding it to her leg snapped, sending her sprawling to the floor when a long slender hand reached out gracefully, breaking her fall.

She couldn't believe it. She couldn't have picked a better night to check in on the town hall. Or a worse night. She still wasn't sure which.

Jack's eye sockets stared into hers curiously, watching her for any kind of reaction. "Are you all right…?" he asked airily, a tad bit winded for some reason.

She nodded softly, staring back at him with her eyes fairly wide themselves. "I…I just snapped a few threads…" She reassured him in barely more than a whisper before attempting to swallow a lump in her throat. Here she was, completely at the mercy of Jack Skellington, lying delicately in his arms with a disconnected foot. She looked deep into his eye sockets, a bit worried of what she might find.

"Sally…you're so cold…" he observed, and she could swear that he held her a little bit tighter. Her threads almost seemed to pulse, feeling the fire in his touch with every finger he laid on her. "Why didn't you tell me how cold you were?"

Was she even coherent enough to speak right now? Her mouth parted slightly, and she intook air, wanting to tell him about how she had been stuck out in the cold and how coming in here and being with him had made her feel so very _warm_ and how she would never want to leave his side ever again…she mentally wondered for a moment if she was still dreaming.

"I…"she began, stuttering slightly on her words. "Jack…I…"

He gazed dreamily at her, his eyes half-lidded as his face crept closer to hers. "I never realized before, but Sally…you're…"

He slowly cupped her face, eyes closing as their lips met underneath the mistletoe. If Sally had a heart, surely it would have burst. She slide her eyes closed as well while wrapping her arms around his neck, and he strengthened his grip on her, ever careful and gentlemanly about the seams in her foot. The curiosity behind his lips and the amount of unhinged passion she found in hers was almost too much for her to bear. It almost felt like he was searching her for something – and, to be sure, it was her job to make sure that he found it.

She must be dreaming, she thought. There was no possible way this was happening. Any moment now, another chill would come through and wake her from her slumber and remind her that this wasn't real, that she was nothing to him.

But that moment never came.

She felt his long, thin fingers twiddle with strands of her hair against her back, causing her to let a small, airy moan escape from her. Unwillingly of course – she was far too shy to ever let Jack know that she was enjoying this so much. She almost thought she felt a twinge of a smile from his lips above her own. If she'd known any better, she would have guessed he'd enjoyed hearing it.

It was a few moments until the Pumpkin King finally released her from his grasp, more breathless than he had been before. She watched him nervously, unsure of what he would say or do.

In that moment, she was ready to take back everything she'd said about Christmas. Jack could have as many Christmases as he wanted, as often as he wanted, as long as they were allowed to do _that._ Her head swam with a warm, sticky-sweet lovesick potion that seemed to clear her mind of any kind of thought except the moment that they had just shared together.

"J-Jack…" she started, only to be cut off by a giggle rising in his throat. A giggle that escalated into a laugh and then into a full-blown cackle. To her surprise, he swept Sally off her feet, dislocated foot and all, and spun her around excitedly, holding her close to his chest. She could feel his ribs vibrating with laughter beneath his pinstripe suit.

"Oh, Sally!" he exclaimed, his voice sing-song as ever, "Did you feel the magic?"

It took her a moment for her to regain herself. "Magic…?"

"The mistletoe's spell? Oh, Christmas magic never ceases to amaze me! I'm sure you felt it too!" He explained, setting her down gently on one of the rows of chairs in front of the stage. "I have never felt so alive, Sally, you'll have to forgive me for being so forward – I was simply overcome by the mistletoe's magic and the spirit of Christmas - oh, you must think I'm such a fool! Of course, I can only assume it would be magic that would make any two kiss underneath mistletoe regardless of how they feel about one another; without any kind of amorous feeling, it would be scientifically inaccurate to force two people to kiss, although Christmas is known for being more set in a kind of faith than anything else…"

And suddenly, the worry all came back to her, like popping out of a bubble. The premonition that she'd had and the dread that she had upon seeing the clock in the town square slowly count down to Jack's flight. He had always been one for drama and couldn't often see the long-term consequences of things…which might have explained how much she felt her insides flutter with hope only to come crashing down upon hearing that he had been consumed by the "magic of mistletoe".

What was it? Carried away. Jack was easily carried away.

She could feel her heart sink at that thought. Well…if she had one, it would have.

Quickly, she fetched the needle from behind her ear and the thread from her pocket and hastily sewed the stitches on her foot, careful to avoid eye contact with Jack, who had become fascinated once again with the mistletoe's presentation as opposed to the diagram in his book.

"Well…" she began softly, causing the Pumpkin King to look up from his study, "I think I'll have to be going now…"

Jack's expression grew slightly concerned, and she almost thought she saw something like he didn't want her to go. He snapped the book shut and wordlessly drew closer to her, removing his jacket and placing it around her shoulders.

If her cheeks hadn't been flushed for five seconds, there it was again.

"Oh, Jack, I couldn't possibly -" she began, and yet snuggled close to it around her, taking in the faint scent he had on his clothes.

"Please take it. Stay warm, Sally." He wished her genuinely, cocking a small smile at her.

And, without her knowing it, she felt her stitches stretch into a small smile as well.

"Goodnight, Jack." she whispered.

They both seemed to turn at the same time, Sally stepping towards the door and Jack once again admiring what he'd created on the stage. She could barely hear him muttering something to himself, and she couldn't help but wonder if anything that had just happened completely fazed him at all.

But there was one thing that she knew. If this moment was any indication, it was that Sally was worried more than ever about what was to come. Jack's Christmas was fast approaching, and the closer it got, the more that she was concerned that it would positively end in disaster. Delightful as it was, and as much as she wanted to kiss under the mistletoe again and again and _again_ …something just wasn't _Jack_ about this whole ordeal, and she now felt more determined to get to the bottom of it. Almost as if she had to earn another kiss. A real kiss.

She smiled and shook her head at that thought.

The ragdoll couldn't help but turn and look one last time before leaving the town hall, her red hair flicking about in the wind that had picked up outside. He certainly looked more vulnerable without his signature black jacket, but she couldn't help but find him all the more attractive without it.

 _You stay warm too, Jack._ She thought to herself, drawing the jacket closer to her. _And stay safe. Please._

* * *

And that's that! Leave a review if you'd like - let me know how well I characterized these guys. Later!


End file.
